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Thursday, January 14, 2010

Catastrophe in Haiti

No political bickering from me today, folks. There is a devastating emergency transpiring this morning in one of the poorest nations on this troubled planet. Whatever your political leaning may be, the tragedy of the Haitian people is something that can bring us all together.

At this moment (it is now 7:49 AM EST) the estimates of the number of human beings lost to this unspeakable tragedy range in numbers as varied a hundred-thousand to half a million to a million - or more. At this early stage, an accurate assessment as to the total number is all-but-impossible. All we know at this time is that the loss of lives is astronomical. No doubt about it: we all need to chip in.

The State Department has set up a number for those who wish to seek information on those loved ones who are in Haiti:

1-888-407-4747

If you would like to make a donation to Haitian earth quake relief, here are just a few links and numbers:

The minute this piece was published, the Google people put an ad at the top of the page for World Vision. Don't log on - I'll get a percentage of it and I do not wish to profit off of this tragedy (HEY! I GOTTA SLEEP AT NIGHT!) If you wish to make a donation to World Vision, log in here instead:

www.worldvision.org

You may also donate $10.00 to be charged to your cell phone by texting "HAITI" to 90999

To make a "super immediate" (according to AlterNet) $5.00 donation, text "YELE" to 501501.

Pray long and hard for the poor people of Haiti.

Tom DeganAFTER THOUGHT:

Here is a link to a fine piece Don Hazen of AlterNet wrote this morning with some additional suggestions:

It's sad that it takes a tragedy of this magnitude to get people to share and help others. I'm sure the " little people " will step up and give as much as they can. I'm curious to see how much the Buffetts, Bloombergs and Murdochs of our society will contribute !! I say 20 million each sounds fair !!

I find it interesting that while Brad Pitt and Amgelina Jolie are pledging one million dollars, Wal-Mart is donating only $500,000. So I would not expect too much from the Buffetts and Murdochs of the world.

Naturally there will be nothing from Limbaugh (he has to buy see-gars and Viagra) and shall we wager a guess as to how much Glen Beck and Sarah Palin will contribute? I wonder if Cheney and Dubya will be moved to chip in a few bucks?

Thanks, Tom. I wish everyone had your humanity - to leave behind the politics to rally help for those in need. The vitriol being spewed by the RWNJs about Haitians, our President, etc., is so embarrassing.

Just donated to Doctors Without Borders. Glad to find your well stated blog. Let's all work together to help all the world's people who are suffering due to natural disasters, war, or poverty. "Let's stop all the fight."

Tom, as a heads up, your readers might want to check the policies of the Red Cross before donating to them or at least be sure to specify that ALL of their donation to the Red Cross go for relief in Haiti. One of the criticisms that came out of 9/11 and the Southeast Asian tsunami of a few years back was that unless specifically designated as such, all funds given to the Red Cross were added to their general pot to be distributed as they saw fit, not necessarily to the cause of the donor

Here in Manitoba CANADA, the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is BEGGING to hire workers to take donations. The organization had taken in over $500,000 within the intial 48 hours. One donor anonymously donated One Million ollars; that isn't a corporation or business, it one of "us."

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige and even his life for the welfare of others."--MLIK, Strength in Love (1963)

Thank you, I think I will sponser a child in Haiti through Save the Children. I did that for about 10 years for a child in Ethiopia. If I do it again, maybe the children in Haiti can turn things around. And the help will be ongoing, not just a one time thing for me.

You spout all the typical liberal platitudes I have heard my entire life...and they are old and wearisome. A 1960's retread and wanna-be. Don't you get tired of being old and irrelevant? Why don't you try bringing some coherent thought to the table.

You choose the easy way, and parrot what you hear on the network news and in liberal, elite newspapers.

The liberal ideas in my lifetime with regard to society, education, politics and government have all brought us to this horrendous situation in the US.

You liberals disdain America and good, kind, old-fashioned Americans. You think we are rubes and call us "right-wing extremists", "clinging to our religion and guns" (as your great leader said).

But we are the people who made this country great. We believe in the values of the founding fathers and understand their importance because we understand that for most of human history humans lived under tyrants and kings.

You have no historical perspective; no understanding of how easily freedom can be taken away.

You leave your destructive, snarky comments that make you feel oh so important...you ridicule, you be-little and I guess it makes you feel like a hip, big-shot. You and your kind are ridiculous, trite and tiresome.

"You liberals disdain America and good, kind, old-fashioned Americans. You think we are rubes and call us "right-wing extremists", "clinging to our religion and guns" (as your great leader said)."

Well! I never!

But seriously....This was an appeal to give to the victims on the earthquake in Haiti. I always get negative comments by people like you - that just goes with the territory. But what the heck did you find to object to in this piece???

Perhaps I posted my response to you on the wrong page, but it was in reply to your comments re: Sarah Palin and stupid Republicans. Not snarky and condescending, Tom? Give me a break….here are just a few excerpts of your titillating comments:

“….Let's be brutally frank here, shall we? The I.Q. of the so-called "base" of that party has deteriorated to such an alarming degree in the last thirty years, a Sarah Palin candidacy…”

“… She is made-to-order for these fools, are you kidding me? There can no longer be any serious debate that the Republican party has cornered the market on Stupid……”

Now, in the next paragraph, you reveal your closet racism, Tom:

“…A couple of them,”

(who are you referring to Tom…oh, black guys, I see).

“…I hate to admit, are fairly astute - like Ron Christie, for instance, who regularly appears on MSNBC - a very bright fellow ..”

(Do you mean “clean and articulate” Tom? Like VP Joe Biden described Barack Obama? How gracious of you both.)

…”No. They just had to hire the dumbest black guy they could possibly find…”

(referring to Michael Steele...now that’s nice, isn’t it?)

(And, last but not least:)

“…By the way, between you and me and the parking meter, Malcolm X had a term for people like Michael Steele: House Nigger. You want to talk about the worst kind of cow towing, Uncle Tom darkie? The guy is a walking, talking stereotype! Somewhere in that eternal void, you may be sure, Stepin Fetchit is laughing his ass off:…”

(Wow, I don’t even know what to say to these comments…except you sound a lot like Sen. Robert Byrd, WV - former Ku Klux Klansman)

“…I hate to admit, are fairly astute - like Ron Christie, for instance, who regularly appears on MSNBC - a very bright fellow ..”

You misinterpreted that remark so please allow me to explain it to you in the proper context:

I am not saying that Ron Christie is "fairly astute" for a black guy. As black guys go, I imagine he is of average intelligence. But for a right wing Republican, the guy is a freaking Einstein - are you kidding me??